davieG

Sorry to spoil the narrative but I got one yesterday off of my 40 year old stair banister.

When Fifa’s team of inspectors travelled to the north-west of Saudi Arabia a fortnight or so ago, they needed to bring vibrant imaginations. They were scoping out one of the probable venues for the 2034 World Cup but this was no usual reconnaissance mission. It is one thing when, more than a decade out, a stadium is unbuilt, but quite another when the same goes for an entire host city. Visualising a semi‑final between, say, England and Brazil is not straightforward when you are gazing into a trench. That was the case when a delegation from football’s governing body visited Neom, a mind-boggling project whose centrepiece will be a high-rise line in the desert that measures 105 miles long and 200 metres wide, ultimately accommodating nine million people. The plans that have been released look akin to a video game. Details of its progress are closely guarded but excavation works are well under way and there is a pledge to begin moving people in by 2030. The city will contain several stadiums and if Saudi Arabia gets its way, which happens more often than not, Neom will become one of the most important sporting venues on Earth. More here - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/28/saudi-arabia-2034-ambitious-world-cup-plans-force-fifa-leap-of-faith?fbclid=IwAR3RIUlIyR0I1VI64a0Sre3OjLH35sio6L5NqxLwlgkgNY0HqN2C_2e8tSA

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/leicester-city-january-transfer-business-9000520 Enzo Maresca gives his thoughts on the transfer window with just a few days to go until clubs can conduct deals in and out, with movement expected at the King Power Stadium ByJordan Blackwell 07:00, 28 DEC 2023UPDATED07:23, 28 DEC 2023 Enzo Maresca knows what Leicester City need in the January transfer window and expects some members of his squad are already thinking about their futures ahead of the market reopening. Maresca has held meetings with the City recruitment team over the business that could be done next month and says he is clear in the areas his team needs strengthening. He has previously hinted he would like a left-footed defender, while City could also resume their hunt for an attacking midfielder after a move for Manchester City’s James McAtee fell through at the end of the summer, the England Under-21 international joining Sheffield United instead, But the City boss has previously said that for any deals to be conducted, players must leave first. As things stand, all 25 spots in City’s permitted squad are filled. Maresca believes there are players at City who will be looking to leave when January arrives, and are thinking about their futures. However, he says no player is yet to discuss their desire to leave with him, and neither does he want them to do so until the new year, as the club’s Championship fixtures are the focus right now. e He said: “In this moment, I don’t want them to think about January, even if they are probably thinking already about January, some of them, because it’s normal. We’ll see in January if some of them are coming to ask to leave, we’ll see how we can find solutions for them and also for us. “The only thing I can say is that, for us, the situation is quite clear in terms of the January market. We know as a club what we need. We’ll see.” January business can be tough, as City have found. At the start of this year, City brought in Victor Kristiansen, Harry Souttar, and Tete, but the trio were the club’s first permanent winter signings for five years, since the acquisition of Fousseni Diabate in 2018. It’s not unusual for City to go through the whole month without any players leaving or arriving. Maresca added that if he was to begin February with the exact same squad he currently has, he would be “100 per cent” satisfied.

The Front Door.

There is a lot of coulda, shoulda, woulda and it may have been the 'biggest' game so far but for me it wasn't the most important it's much more important that we beat the likes of Huddersfield and Coventry. If that means we ended up with a draw but saved the legs of KDH et al for those games then I'm ok with that.

Even if they got to an instantaneous point which which would require many video angles could any club below the top tier leagues afford it.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ive-watched-enzo-maresca-make-8996957 I've watched Enzo Maresca make five huge changes to bring joy back Leicester City How Enzo Maresca has turned a relegated club into a team on course to set records in what is just his second spell as the head coach of a senior outfit ByJordan Blackwell 11:00, 25 DEC 2023 This year could have been a rotten one for Leicester City. For the 13th time in their history, they were relegated. Given how far they had to fall below expectations to drop down a division, it may have been the worst one yet. But, 2023 is actually ending on a high. And it’s mostly due to one man. Enzo Maresca has completely turned the club around. After so many poor decisions leading to City’s relegation, the hierarchy’s call to look past the names that are usually in the frame for a Championship and show faith in a man who’d had just one previous spell as a first-team head coach has proven to be an excellent one. But while City were the favourites to lead the division, and while they do have the biggest budget to work with, the job Maresca has done so far should not be underestimated. Now, City are heading into 2024 with the possibility of finishing a season with more points than any English club has ever earned in a single campaign. Here’s how Maresca has done it. A year working alongside Pep Guardiola’s treble-winners provides a blueprint but putting it into practice with a group of players who are not on the same level technically is not easy. And Maresca has managed it. Within seconds of the first behind-closed-doors pre-season game, it was clear what he was trying to do. There’s Ricardo Pereira stepping into midfield, the defence spreading to a back three, the advanced midfielders pushing beyond the striker who drops deep to connect play. There is a desire to control possession, tempo, and territory. And it’s the same every game. You know what you’re going to get. Having a clear gameplan gives supporters something to believe in and to get behind. Admittedly, not everybody has bought into the patient football, but Maresca has won over some of the traditionalists in the stands at the King Power Stadium. The identity of a club goes beyond the style of play, but it’s a big factor. Knowing what City represent on the pitch helps build a good feeling among supporters and Maresca has quickly established that. Improve individuals Wilfred Ndidi as an attacking force? It’s the sort of suggestion that would have got a fan laughed out of the pub six months ago but Maresca has managed it. It’s probably the most eye-catching of the individual improvements under the Italian, but there have been plenty more. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has taken his game in the final third to a new level. Hamza Choudhury can play wherever he’s needed. Kasey McAteer has stepped up from League Two to the Championship with ease. It’s so pleasing to have a manager who can recognise players’ strengths and harness them in new ways. And he’s really willing to push himself to find little areas of players’ game that can be improved, like when he spent an international break working with his wingers on the foot they should control with to give them half a second more time to try to beat their full-backs. Maresca doesn’t give up on anybody. He’s doing what a good coach should and trying to improve his players. Build a squad to believe in City’s relegation ended with a huge disconnect between the squad and the supporters. Many fans simply didn’t believe the players’ performances proved they cared about the club’s plight. A good handful of those players are still at the club now. But Maresca has re-energised them, given them a new motivation, and pushed them to perform at a level where their commitment to the cause is clear, dropping them if they are not up to his standards. Supporters will always appreciate that. Prioritise fan feeling From day one, Maresca has tried to get fans onside. He knew at the start that he would need them to be patient as his players learned a new way. But he’s tried to reward them by creating more moments to savour. He wants fans to enjoy themselves. So when they beat QPR at Loftus Road, rather than politely applaud those who had travelled from 30 yards back, Maresca encouraged his players to get as close as they could to the away end. It led to a joyous scene that many will rank among their highlights of the season so far. Football should be an experience beyond the 90 minutes the ball is in play. Maresca is making it such. Win football matches Of course, Maresca wouldn’t be around to make any of the above happen if he wasn’t winning football matches. But 19 victories from 23 league games is astonishingly good at any level in any country. There is a team here that keeps pushing to find a way to win. They’ve scored 16 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches, three more than any other Championship side, and plenty of those have come in injury time. City supporters had become so used to seeing their side concede the late goals, but now they only get stronger as the final whistle approaches. They’re becoming unstoppable and charging head-first into 2024. And it’s Maresca leading the way.

Born and Raised in Leicester Granby Street in 1946

Mark Lawrenson predicted 159-match unbeaten record for Liverpool before BBC Sport exit

Guess whose stadium this is.

https://www.lcfc.com/news/3831337/i-feel-at-home--how-a-bayern-munich-prodigy-migrated-to-belvoir-drive/featured?lang=en Janina Leitzig feels at home at LCFC Women - a key reason behind her decision to sign permanently for the Club in the summer. A career which has taken her from Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich now sees her established as a leading light in the Barclays Women’s Super League and the German shot-stopper is eager for more.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/enzo-marescas-non-negotiable-leicester-8996822 The latest Leicester City news as the manager has given an insight into his man-management and reveals his surprise at the team's adaptation to his style of play. ByAmie WilsonMidlands football writer 11:49, 24 DEC 2023 Enzo Maresca has revealed his surprise at the speed with which his Leicester City team has adapted to his playing style, with the pre-season game against Liverpool the first sign of it coming together quicker than he expected. The City manager has led the team to a record-breaking first half of the season in the Championship. Saturday’s 3-0 win over Rotherham United means that they have picked up 58 points from their 23 games. That points total sees them sit six points clear at the top of the table on Christmas Day ahead of the Boxing Day clash against second-placed Ipswich. Maresca’s style has been a keystone of City’s season so far with the team dominating possession and wearing teams down. It was a new style introduced in pre-season, but it was a pre-season game against Liverpool in which City created numerous chances in the opening exchanges which left the manager surprised. Despite City going on to lose the game 4-0 it's an afternoon picked out by Maresca. “It was the pre-season game against Liverpool,” he told the Athletic. “The first 20 minutes. After the the game, I said, ‘******* hell guys’ because it was such a short time together before that. We played so well for the first 15-20 minutes. “And it’s not just because I know it’s Liverpool, I know how difficult it is, even in pre-season, and I know how intense they are but after that first 20 minutes, I said, ‘We can play’. “In terms of results and consistency, it surprised me, but it has surprised everyone, right?” Maresca has turned the club around after relegation from the Premier League last season. He also gave an insight into his man-management style and revealed his non-negotiable with players. “What I don’t like and I don’t negotiate over is bad behaviour or lack of respect towards me, my staff, or team-mates,” he said. “But I like to be open. I like to speak with the players about general things. Anything they need. No problem.” But it’s not just on the pitch where Maresca has made changes. The mentality of the place has had an overhaul too, and there was one small change that he has made at the club’s Seagrave’s training ground that sends a reminder to everyone who works there. “I said many times that this facility here is one of the best in the world,” Maresca added. “But I thought it could only be better in one way, so I said to the club, to the owner, ‘In the last 10 years, Leicester has won three of the most important titles in England — Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield. Why don’t you put the trophy in the reception?’. “The people that arrive every morning; the players, me as manager, everyone will see it. That says to everyone in the last 10 years, this club has done this! I’m not talking about the last 100 years! The last ten! “The players, the manager and the people that are here, they can realise even better what kind of club this is!”

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-enzo-marescas-wout-faes-8996674 How Enzo Maresca's Wout Faes decision paid off as inevitable Leicester City serve up special Talking points from Leicester City's 3-0 win over Rotherham, looking at another second-half rout, their domination, Wout Faes, Cesare Casadei, and the promotion race ByJordan Blackwell 10:34, 24 DEC 2023 Describe a typical 90 minutes at the King Power Stadium under the Italian and it would have looked a lot like how the game panned out against Rotherham as City marked the halfway point of the campaign and of their manager’s first season in charge. There was frustration, patience, goals, and three points. It is difficult to fathom that a team on course for such a mammoth points tally would have scored the joint-fewest goals in the first halves of home matches in the division. But that is the case for City, with just four in 12 after Rotherham kept them out on Saturday. An opponent sitting deep, forming a barricade around their own penalty area and keeping City out for the first 45 minutes is nothing new. Earlier in the season, those sorts of halves led to grumbles and groans of dissatisfaction from the crowd at the break. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. It may be that the crowd were in a jollier, festive mood, but it also may be that they’ve become used to it now, and know what usually follows in the second half. City have been leading at the break in just three of their 12 home matches and yet have won 10, more than any other side in the division. They have scored 19 goals in the second halves of home matches, five more than any other side in the division. Their goal difference in those periods is +16; the next best in the league is Leeds with +6. He still does, but Maresca doesn’t really need to tell his team at the interval that they must stay patient. They know that their relentless passing and probing fatigues opponents mentally and physically, that the gaps become bigger and the lapses of concentration more pronounced, and that goals will be scored. After goalless first halves, City supporters no longer need to worry about trudging home without seeing their team score. Second-half goals are inevitable. Dominant display as City make light work of 'toughest game' Truthfully, while the game played out in familiar fashion, City were perhaps more dominant than they ever have been before. With 24 shots, it was the most they’ve had in a match this season, while just two conceded is the fewest they’ve let an opposition side have against them. They had total control and most of it was deep in Rotherham’s territory with the Millers stationing themselves closer to their own goal than many visitors to the King Power have before. It was one-way traffic. Perhaps, then, Maresca’s pre-match message that this would be their most difficult game of the season stopped his players from becoming complacent. Because despite the ease with which City earned victory, all of their three promotion rivals in Ipswich, Leeds, and Southampton have dropped points against Rotherham. It felt a little bit like he was over-egging the pudding given this was a match against a team without a win in 10, but he probably felt like it needed saying. When City last faced a team at the foot of the table, against Sheffield Wednesday last month, they produced their worst performance of the season, and was one of the few times they have shown complacency. Maresca didn’t want that to happen again and his team responded. Maresca's defence decision pays off for free-spirited Faes Maresca knew that Rotherham would sit deep and swapped his defence around as a result. His plan worked, albeit a little inadvertently. With the Millers camped on the edge of their box, City’s wide defenders in the back three had to drive with the ball to get it forward quickly. James Justin is better at doing this from the right in Maresca’s eyes, and so he was switched, with Wout Faes moving to the left. Maresca explains: “Becoming three at the back was much better with JJ on the right side because he can drive the ball better than when he plays on the left side. We expected them to sit, so we needed Wout and JJ to drive the ball. “I think JJ is much better on the right side, and Wout is probably better than JJ on the left side. Wout is not the ideal player there but at least he’s probably better than JJ to drive the ball in the left side.” Faes may not be “the ideal player”, but he was City’s best on the day. Both the Belgian and Justin did carry it forward into those areas, but Faes did so more effectively and it not only made City a greater threat on that side, but also forced the breakthrough goal. As far as defenders go, Faes is a relaxed, free spirit. That doesn’t always work out for the best as it can lead to lapses in concentration, but in games like Saturday’s, it pays off. He really took on the role of an attacking player. It wasn’t just in driving with the ball, but in passing it too. Maresca prefers a left-footed player to serve forward balls from that side but Faes still managed to play 20 progressive passes, nearly double anybody else on the pitch. Those balls into Stephy Mavididi and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made City’s left side their best route to goal. And that’s how it proved. Faes was doing his job of getting forward – he finished with 47 touches in the final third; his previous best was 12 – but this time he decided to continue his run. Quick passes from Dewsbury-Hall and Ricardo Pereira got the defender into the box and his shot created the havoc from which Patson Daka scored. Consider City’s player of the season so far and most would say the influential Harry Winks, the born-again Jannik Vestergaard, the game-changing Mads Hermansen, or the all-action Dewsbury-Hall. But Faes is a contender. The hare-brained moments have been few and far between while he’s defending combatively and he’s consistently pushing the ball into the more dangerous areas. He’s a big asset for City right now. Casadei gets timely confidence boost So often City’s goals are about being in the right place at the right time. It’s an important skill, but it often means the scorers don’t get the same level of plaudits. However, a goal of any kind can be a confidence boost, especially when you’re 20 years old. It’s fair to say that it’s not been the easiest of loan spells for Cesare Casadei so far, but despite the relatively simple nature of his diving header from inside the six-yard box, it did seem to instil a bit of belief in him and he had one of his better games, with his touch sharper and his passing better. It’s come in timely fashion. Four games in 10 days means every member of the City squad is going to need to play if they are to come through the festive period with their winning run still going. Casadei will have a job to do, and after his long wait for a second City goal ended, he should approach his task with more confidence. What can stop City now? When analysing the December schedule, it felt like the four games before Christmas, all against bottom-half sides, were winnable and that taking 12 points from 12 was important to capitalise on a more difficult fixture list for their rivals, and to ensure they had momentum before the top-of-the-table clash with Ipswich. City have done their job, and done it well, scoring 13 goals in the process. It’s hard to see what could stop City now. It’s not that they’re likely to win every game in the second half of the season, but based on the first half of the campaign, it’s difficult to see how they drop enough points for more than two teams to overtake them. Avoiding injuries and complacency feel like the biggest challenges they now face, but the latter doesn’t seem likely when Maresca is in charge. He said: “With the players, it’s very easy. They know I’m quite strict and if some of them drop, they don’t play. “It’s like this because the club need respect, the fans need respect, the opposition need respect, so you cannot drop. We need to continue in this way.” If City do continue in this way and replicate their scores from the first half of the season, they will finish on 116 points, 10 more than any side has ever earned in an English league campaign. It should be fun.

Born and Raised in Leicester A Sunny London Road 1950s

Surely that's only before planning is approved, get that and you're ok.

It used to in the 60/70s but it's just been left behind I assume that's because of the size of venues and a lack of interest.

The big question is would he have kept us up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67273155 Tech Trends 2024: AI and electric vehicle deals

Born and Raised in Leicester Magazine Gateway, c 1900-1920

Born and Raised in Leicester Conduit Street, 1946..

Berni Inns Menu dated shortly after Decimalisation on Feb 15th 1971. The prices are shown in and Decimal. Prime Fillet Steak with chips mushrooms tomatoes a bread roll followed by ice cream or cheese & biscuits for only 21/ or £1:05

Born and Raised in Leicester Does anyone remember the Palace Theatre on Belgrave Gate

I didn't think their plans for a Super League involved leaving their respective domestic leagues. It's about replacing the current European Competitions and I guess eventually any World Club Comps. Because that's were the money comes from to guarantee their continual domination of the domestic leagues. . At least that's how I saw it. Wiki The European Super League (ESL), officially The Super League, is a proposed seasonal football competition for club teams in Europe. Initially, the league was supposed to include 20 teams, with 12 of them being founding members of the competition. The league was created by a commercial enterprise called the European Super League Company. This company aimed to rival the UEFA competitions, such as the Champions League, which is currently Europe's top club tournament.[2]